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Wigan boss Martinez believes lesser teams get short end of the referee stick

Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez has indicated that referees are prone to awarding free-kicks and penalties to bigger teams in the Premier League.

The Latics boss rued a decision made by referee Michael Oliver in the first minute of his sides eventual 4-0 loss at Manchester United last weekend which saw Danny Welbeck go down easy under minimal pressure from goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.

The Omani gloveman made the save but Martinez still feels that his side gets the raw end of the deal when important decisions need to be made.

"Sometimes it is true," he told reporters. "You look at the incident and you analyse the games you had and just by the law of averages you should get wrong decisions going your way and sometimes it is difficult to understand we don't get that.

"It's understandable, but goals happen in the game and they will happen, it is part of our game. It is difficult in certain aspects, certain games that you never get wrong calls going your way.

"From that point of view, the disappointment you get when you can see in two or three games on the trot, playing against certain teams, and you don't get that measurement that you feel you should be in a normal judgement of two teams."